Epson 600 Scanner
Create professional-quality images easily with this Epson Perfection V600 Scanner 6400 x 9600 dpi. It has Digital ICE technology that corrects dust, scratches on film, tears or creases on photo prints. In the first video of the comparison series between the Epson V600 Photo Scanner and the Epson V800 Photo.
- Create extraordinary enlargements from film — 6400 x 9600 dpi for enlargements up to 17' x 22'
- Scan slides, negatives and medium-format panoramic film — built-in Transparency Unit
- Remove the appearance of tears and creases from damaged photos — DIGITAL ICE for Prints
- Remove the appearance of dust and scratches from film — DIGITAL ICE for Film
- Restore faded color photos with one touch — Epson Easy Photo Fix® included
- Achieve greater productivity — convert scanned documents into editable text with ABBYY® FineReader® Sprint Plus OCR
- Quickly complete any task — instantly scan, copy, scan-to-email and create PDFs with four customizable buttons
- Energy-efficient LED for fast scans — exclusive ReadyScan® LED light source means no warmup time, faster scans and lower power consumption
- Take your photos further — ArcSoft PhotoStudio included, to help edit and enhance your digital images
Eco Features
- Designed to be recycled
- ENERGY STAR® qualified
- Mercury-free LED light source
- LED light source — lower energy consumption than a fluorescent lamp
Better Products for a Better Future™
For more information on Epson's environmental programs, go to www.epson.com/environment
Epson 600 Scanner Driver
What's in the box:
- Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner
- Transparency Unit (built into lid)
- 35mm, mounted slides, and 6x22 cm Medium-format Film Holders
- Scanner Installation CD-ROM
- ArcSoft PhotoStudio
- Scanner Setup Poster
- Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Cable
- AC Power Adapter and Cord
Writeup: Epson V600 vs Epson V800 for medium format film scanning
Hi guys,
I thought I'd write a post detailing my experience with the Epson V600 and V800 scanners, since I wasn't able to find many good comparisons online when I was purchasing a scanner. Forgive me if this is a bit long winded, but I do like to talk.
I bought and returned an Epson V600 scanner this past week, and purchased a V800 from Adorama. It arrived on Tuesday and I've been using it for several days now. But let me back up...
if you know a bit about scanners, you can skip the next 5 paragraphs
I'm a photographic technology student at RIT, and in my time there I've used quite a bit of gear. I had great experiences scanning 4x5 on Epson V700's, as well as being lucky enough to have access to Flextight scanners, which, of course, produce absolute top quality scans, despite being wholly unaffordable by all but top tier professionals.
For those who might not be aware, the V700/750 is generally regarded as the gold standard for flatbed scanners. 6400 DPI for film up to 4x5, 4.0 dmax, and more. Introduced in 2006, it reigned supreme for 8 years until it was superseded by the V800/V850 in late 2014.
Epson later introduced the V600 (and the V550 but we won't get in to that) as a solid entry level film scanner for 35mm and medium format. The 600 lacks the full width light in the upper lid, so it's unable to scan anything larger than 120 format. It does feature the LED light source (we'll get to that), which i'm sure was a cost saving measure as well as a useful feature.
Functionally, the V7xx and V8xx are very similar. Both feature the same dual lens system, with the second lens being optimized for 6400 DPI scans. Epson claim to have done optical improvements to the V8xx line, which I don't doubt, however when comparing my V600 scan to a V750 scan (at a local camera store) to a V800, I see a very negligible difference. The V850 is noted as having a slightly better optical system than the 800 as well as a better mirror, but I couldn't justify spending 300 dollars more just for that.
The real change from the V7xx to the V8xx comes from the light source. The V7xx used a cold cathode light source, whereas the V8xx (and V600 for that matter) use an LED source. The upshots of this are twofold: one, the light source doesn't need to warm up, which takes quite a bit of time out of scanning, and two, the LED light source doesn't change as it ages, which negates the need to re-profile the scanner at an interval. The LED will probably also never die.
anyway, the important part...
I returned the V600 because I was not satisfied with the noise or the way the scanner processed fine detail. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the V700, but in my eyes, the difference between the V600 and the V700/V800 was too great to ignore. Maybe it's not worth the extra 400 dollars I paid to go from the V600 to the V800, but I think that's going to be a judgement call that everyone will have to make individually.
I scanned identical frames of 120 Fuji Pro400H on the V600 and the V800 scanner. I'd be more than happy to upload unprocessed raw files if anyone is interested, though they are quite large.
At capture, these were saved as 3200 DPI TIFF DNG files, with no capture sharpening or grain reduction, using Vuescan 9. These two JPEG's have the same exact processing applied in Lightroom, obviously there is a slight color shift from the V600 to the V800 which I didn't correct when I exported these. Currently I'm away from my Lightroom hard drive on a trip which is why I have time to write this ;)
Anyway, here are the full size JPEG files from the scanners. These are 30 MB each, so be patient:
Here are two 100 percent crops of the same images from the V600 and the V800. The V600 is on the right side, in both.
Obviously we can see that the fine detail on the side of the buildings is significantly better on the V800 than the V600. Overall, I'd say that the way the V600 handles detail when fully zoomed in is pretty poor when compared to the V800, I mean, there's so much more clarity in the stones on the side of the church, as well. This was really what pushed me to return the V600, along with the noise visible in the sky on the first crop.
Conclusion:
There's really nothing wrong with the V600. It's an incredible scanner for 200 dollars, and until you zoom in, you'd be hard pressed to notice any difference between it and the higher end V7xx or V8xx. I'd wager that it's totally sufficient for most people. However, many of us are shooting medium or large format, and in this case, the V600 won't cut it. However, if you want a 4.0 dMax, 6400 DPI, best-you-can-get-without-spending-15k-on-a-flextight flatbed, the V800 is your pal. Or the V7xx for that matter, if you can find a well cared for model.
I got my V800 from Adorama for 660 dollars and my V600 from Amazon for 200 dollars
Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments. I hope this has been helpful :)
Best,
nerdpox